Bus-only lanes extend reach

By JASON COLLIE

Two new bus priority lanes are being added to Auckland's transport network.

Buses should be passing queuing cars on Fanshawe St and Great South Rd within the next four months.

Transport planners expect journey times to be cut by between 30 seconds and nearly four minutes.

The new lanes follow the success of lanes in Dominion, Mt Eden and Sandringham Rds, although planners do not expect a similar gain in the number of new bus passengers.

The Shore-bound bus lane in Fanshawe St is to be extended to between Nelson and Beaumont Sts, while a city-bound lane between Daldy and Halsey Sts will undergo a six-month trial between 7 am and 9 am.

Buses from the Shore will also change their route from Halsey St to Hobson St.

In Great South Rd the bus lane will run between Greenlane and Alpers Ave between 7 am and 9 am.

Auckland City principal transport planner Denis Mander said the bus lanes would have a negligible effect on car drivers, particularly in Great South Rd, where the scheme would take over a lane now used for parking.

The advent of bus lanes on Mt Eden and Dominion Rds saw the number of passengers rise by 18 per cent and 10.5 per cent, respectively, last year but Mr Mander did not expect the new projects to have the same effect.

"Fanshawe St is linked to the North Shore Busway and they are both shorter than Dominion Rd," he said.

"They are only part of a wider jigsaw and there are a whole lot of other projects to complete the picture."